Eternal India Encyclopedia

Eternal India

encyclopedia

HANDICRAFTS

WOOD WORK

India has a tradition of having door

frames of carved wood as a sign of welcome

to guests. Carved wooden frames and bal-

conies, supported by brackets in the form of

animals, birds and humans can be seen in

the design of houses throughout the coun-

try. The designs in wood work cover a wide

range — floral, animal and human figures as

well as panels and friezes on religious

themes.

The wood used for ornamental work dif-

fers from region to region depending on the

availability. Kashmiri craftsmen use walnut

which with its close grain and even texture

facilitates fine work. Cabinets, tables, trays

and boxes have grapes, roses, lotuses and

chinar leaves as motifs.

Khatam-band is a famous Kashmiri

woodwork. Made from thin panels of pine

wood,

cut

into

geometrical

designs,

Khatam-band is used for decorating the

ceilings. The shrine of Khwaja Nagshband,

near Jama Masjid of Srinagar presents the

best example of this craft. Similar works

are there in Samarkhand, Iran, Istanbul,

Algiers and Morocco. Carpenters of Ka-

shmir are renowned for house boats.

Saharanpur (Uttar Pradesh) is the most

flourishing commercial centre for wood

carving. Sheesham and teak are used for the

manufacture of screens, cigarette boxes,

tables, etc. Inlaying with fine brass wires is

done.

Sankheda village in Gujarat has a

unique and closely-guarded secret tradition

of applying silver, gold and bronze colours

on wood. The craftsmen produce chairs and

tables besides traditional swings, cradles

and baby walkers.

Gujarat craftsmen can produce as many

as 40 to 50 variations on a single motif like

the lotus, parrot, peacock, swan etc.,

Surat has a tradition of marquetry work

called

sadeli.

Different materials such as

ivory, ebony and sandalwood are bonded to-

gether and then cut into cross sections.

These small sections are closely pasted on

the lids of wooden boxes to form kaleido-

scopic patterns.

The master craftsmen of Natungram

(Bengal) produce vigorous mythological

carvings and stylised figures of owls which

were originally used in worship. Orissa

makes carved figures of Lord Jaganath, the

main deity of the temple at Puri.

Andhra Pradesh is famous for its Kon-

dapalli toys and Nirmalware in the village of

Nirmal whose craftsmen produce a wide

variety of functional articles like screens,

panels, wall plaques, lamp stands, etc.

Karnataka is the home of wood carvers

working on sandalwood which is abundantly

available in its forests. Articles produced

include paper knives, paper weights, cas-

kets, trays, photoframes, figures of deities

etc.

Rosewood carving is practised mainly at

Mysore. Elephants carved from rosewood

are one of the most widely sold articles.

Karnataka is also known for its ivory

inlay work on rosewood. A wide range of

articles are made by inlay workers at

Mysore which include panels, trays, boxes,

etc.

The craftsmen of Channapatna in Kar-

nataka produce lacquerware toys and dolls,

sports-goods, etc. The raw materials used

are country wood, lac, lithophane and a vari-

ety of colours that give the lacquerware a

distinctive brilliance.

Kerala has a rich tradition of wood carv-

ing. Houses here generally have carved pil-

lars and beams. Craftsmen also craft ele-

phants from wood.

EMBROIDERY

Indian embroidery is unmatched in the

wide variety of styles. Each region has its

own special stitch and style.

The motifs in Indian embroidery work

reflect the great variety of its fauna and

flora. Religious motifs such as temple

gopu-

rams

are equally popular. Apart from tradi-

tional material like wool, cotton, silk, beads,

gold and silver thread, the Indian em-

broiderer has made use of such unusual

material as beetles' wings and various

seeds.

Kashmiri embroidery: The favourite

motifs are the chinar leaf, grape, cherry,

plum, almond and apple blossom, parrot,

kingfisher, woodpecker, etc. In a type of

embroidery known as

ratugari,

the work is

done with the same type of material as the

base fabric, thus creating a beautiful effect.

This craft is seen at its best in

dorukha,

when the stitch is the same on both sides of

the cloth. Sometimes

dorukha

is done in two

colours, one on each side.

Phulkari: The base of

phulkari

('flow-

ered work') embroidery done in Punjab and

Haryana is coarse cotton cloth in orange, red

or blue. The embroidery is done in yellow,

white, green and red flossed silk. One vari-

ety of

phulkari

work is the bagh or garden

which is used for embroidering the edge of

the cloth to produce a border-like effect. It is

known by different names such as Kakri

Bagh (cucumber garden), Mirch Bagh (Pep-

per garden) depending on the motifs used.

Kutch and Saurashtra: The basic stitch

of Kutch is the chain stitch. The articles

produced are torans, which are long embroi-

dered panels with scallops also embroi-

dered and are hung over doorways as sym-

bols of welcome.

Chaklas

are square pieces

of cloth used by a Kutchi bride to wrap her

trousseau with.

The Saurashtra embroiderer produces

articles similar to those in Kutch. Use is

made here of strips of material of different

colours joined together to form a decorative

base for the embroidery which also features

pieces of mica.

Karnataka:

Kasuti

embroidery here has

some special stitches, the

gavanti,

a double

running stitch, and the

murgi,

the zigzag

done within the darning stitch. In both, the

two sides of the embroidery, are identical.

The

negi,

is used mainly in large designs to

get the overall effect of a woven design with

extra weft threads.

Menthi

is a cross stitch

worked with the stitches close together by

the containing of warp and two weft threads

largely used in structural designs. The col-

ours used are red, purple, green and orange.

Motifs are the chariot,

gopuram,

Nandi

(sacred bull) and elephant.

Chikan: Centres of Chikan work are

Lucknow in UP and Gaya in Bihar.